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Cuttack, March 30: Farmers are up in arms as about 10,000 of them have yet to get paid for the paddy they sold to mandis opened by the state government a month ago.
The state government is yet to pay `40 crore to nearly 10,000 farmers of the district for paddy procurement, sources said. The guidelines for paddy procurement state that farmers will be given their dues through bank accounts within 72 hours of selling their paddy to government mandis.
The civil supplies department has opened 216 mandis in the district through agricultural cooperative societies, according to sources. It plans to procure around 11 lakh quintal of paddy for the kharif season at a minimum support price of `1,450 per quintal.
Government mandis had started paddy procurement December 15. Attracted by the high minimum support price, many farmers had sold their produce to government mandis. However, they have not received their dues till date, sources said.
“We are supposed to get the payment within 72 hours of selling paddy to government mandis. I had sold 30 quintal of paddy to a government mandi March 19, but the money has not been credited to my account,” said Suresh Kumar Jena, a farmer from Gatirautapatana area.
Officials of the agricultural cooperative credit societies have expressed ignorance about the causes behind the delay in payment of dues to farmers. “No government official is able to say when the money will be credited to our accounts. We are now facing a financial crunch with regard to meeting our daily needs,” said Sanak Jena, a farmer of Mahanga.
The district administration recently stopped paddy procurement because of huge overdue. “We had urged the civil supplies corporation to pay farmers’ dues a fortnight ago. However, nothing has been done,” said an official of the civil supplies department on condition of anonymity.
District civil supplies officer Amar Mahapatra said they will clear the farmers’ dues within a day or two.